In Another Life
by Arcane Iridescence
Summary: Two soldiers meet, both fighting for their world. But even as they fight on opposing sides, they grow to respect each other. With the truce between the Imperial Empire and the Union, they have the chance to speak. But with The Rift tearing apart both their universes, they find that it needs to ne closed with everyone choosing where they belong. AU eventual Fluri multi-universe
1. Before

**I have succumbed to the need to write Vesperia fanfiction.**

* * *

In Another Life

.Prologue.

The war lasted for two years. In those two years, half the planet was lost. Plants, animals, people – gone. Only the unlucky survived. The rest scrambled for the remaining resources, furthering the destruction and almost dooming what was left. So very close to extinction and the end of all life on the planet, the government quickly stepped in and intervened, building an empire that rivaled the ancients found in old, battered books. It placed down laws that regulated food and water consumption, birth rate, and even death rate. The populous was cleansed of the weak and useless, punishing the greedy and whipping anyone who hoarded these precious resources. Criminals and all those who opposed the Empire were sent out of sight to carve a living out of rock in the uninhabitable regions – the Badlands. With no way to survive out there, the sentence meant a slow death.

For a time, the harsh regulations brought stability to what remained of the world. People were happy to let it continue. Ten years passed, then twenty, fifty, a hundred… Time crawled forward and little by little the Badlands shrunk by inches with each passing year.

But with this increase in fertile lands came the growth of the population. Realizing that there would be no solution that could solve the situation in time, the Empire gathered the brightest minds that lived and set them in a colony among technologies thought to have been lost during the war.

However, it became fatally apparent that the efforts were not enough. While the Colony of Zaude burnt themselves out working, the population began to decrease. It started slow, but that quickly changed as the people starved. Fights and skirmishes broke out across the lands and storehouses were raided, further reducing the amount of resources that would keep world alive. And as the seasons changed, the situation only became more and more dire.

The world was once more on the brink, the apocalypse around the corner. Hope and faith seemed to have abandoned humanity, until one day, a solution was presented in the form of something they never would have dreamed possible.

A doorway of sorts to a new land, an Alternate Universe.

Parties were sent to gather any and all information they could. It was then that they encountered another problem. As their people crossed through what was quickly named The Rift, they discovered that the act was impossible. All who did returned covered in boils that had bubbled up across their flesh that inflated until the body had no room left to function. After their death, the body would harden and petrify, the skin turning black and shiny.

But time was running out and they raced against it because winter had arrived and without the resources, then there was no chance for the human race to survive to see the land turn green in spring. And once more, hope seemingly abandoned them, the survivors sending more people to their deaths than the starvation had. Just as they decided they had failed and had given up, they discovered a formula that they could create using the technologies that would allow the safe passage between world.

Sending two people at a time, they scouted and gathered information, returning with vital supplies and resources at the same time. The soldiers became known as Knights, held up as heroes for braving the unknown and returning to speak of it. Through several years, the Empire once more began to grow, leeching resources and going as far to expand their cities into the desert that bordered the Badlands. The regulations became more relaxed, allowing castes to form under the reign of the monarchy, the Imperial Empire growing in both size and strength.

As time passed and they gathered information, they found that the other universe was not unlike their own, but held one major difference: there had never been a war. There were other things, like the fact that they ran their lands by groups called guilds, each with a different name and often a different designation, taking on jobs and generally doing what they could to protect their lands and people from the monsters that plagued their regions. There was also other things, smaller things that were different, such as the atmosphere and general livelihood of the civilization.

However, it was the fact that they had not needed to suffer as the Imperial Empire had, that they had no need fight against the beast for their very existence like they had, that sparked jealousy through the populous at how they were able to flourish. They began gathering supplies that they needed to invade this beautiful land. They laughed at the thought of using their own resources against them.

When the time came to invade, though, the laughter ceased. At first, the attack had gone as planned, but without the Great War to halt the progress of development, the alternate universe drove them back to The Rift and their own world. Just as the two forces came to a stalemate, the invaders spread suspicion and distrust amongst their enemies ranks by planting people who were the carbon copy who acted and looked just like the guild members. They struck hard, attacking people who had trusted _them_.

Catching onto this, the people of the alternate universe weeded out the planted Knights and returned the favor in full, spreading chaos through the orderly ranks. With neither side knowing who they could trust, the cross-universe war ended for a time, though the situation remained volatile, with tensions high and both forces ready to fight at any given moment.

Ten years later, the situation was once more at the breaking point, with everyone prepared for another war and determined to win.

* * *

**I've already started chapter one. Things might be confusing at first, but bear with me. It'll all make sense later. Complaints and/or flames can be submitted via the review button.  
**


	2. The First: Stale

**I should probably mention that this is unbeta'd, so I apologize for any mistakes you come across.**

* * *

In Another Life

.Chapter one: Stale.

The funeral was meant to be a private affair, but Flynn thought that was unfair to everyone who knew the man. So he let whoever wanted to pay their respects to Yuri come. After they lowered the casket into the ground, those who had arrived thanked the blonde and left until the only ones to remain were the residents of the lower quarter, Rita, Princess Estellise, and himself.

Throughout it all, Flynn kept his face impassive, though he felt anything but numb. Yuri had been his best friend, the person he could trust without fail and whom he could always rely on, even in these times. To lose him made him feel empty, alone. Having known him since they were young children, they had rarely ever been apart for longer than a month at a time. Both orphaned when their parents failed to return from The Rift, they were raised by the people of the lower quarter until they joined the Knights. So now to be without him was a feeling he would rather have never experienced at all.

Flynn didn't blame the guilds and the Union – they were defending their home. But even with this knowledge, he also couldn't help but harbor hatred and resentment towards them. He tried to rationalize it all, to rationalize Yuri's death, and the death of the other soldiers in their brigade. He kept telling himself that, in the end, it was their own fault for starting the Seven Year War in the first place. It was their own fault, the Empire's fault that so many lives had been lost on either side. For a time, these thoughts would calm his mind, but then he'd see Yuri's grinning face, the spark in his eyes that hinted at the snarky comments waiting on the tip of his tongue. With that image printed to his eyelids, that resentment bubbled back up in his chest, leaving a bitter taste in the back on his mouth.

And as he stared out the window from his office, he thought about how the tension that had been worsening these past few years between the two universes would probably snap with this last skirmish. It had resulted in deaths on both sides, and Flynn knew that neither side would settle nor allow it to slide. Now it was only a matter of when it would fall into another all-out war. Who knew how many more people would die then.

He sighed and looked back at his reports. Since the incident only four days before, he had been promoted to Captain for surviving and leading the other Knights in his brigade to safety. It didn't seem right though. Without Yuri… without his sacrifice none of them would have survived. He was the one who deserved the promotion. And what a Captain he would have made. He let his gaze wander, continuing with that train of thought.

Flynn would have gladly followed him into battle, knowing that Yuri would never command his brigade to do something he wouldn't, and would bravely take the lead. Yuri couldn't let something happen in front of him without doing something about it. No doubt, it wouldn't have been long before the Empire saw the man the way Flynn had.

But he also knew Yuri would never have been able to be a Captain for the very reason that he was Yuri. While he would have made an excellent leader, he also would have complained the whole time, and Flynn couldn't help but wonder if any of the reports would even be finished in a timely manner. He chuckled a bit at that and brought his attention back to the present.

He was the one with reports to finish, after all. Yuri wouldn't have to file them anymore.

.

.

.

The walk home was quiet, somber, lacking Yuri's carefree stride and complaints. It would be his last time taking this route. Now that his promotion had been finalized, or was at least in the final stages of being complete, Flynn would be relocated to the castle. Lady Estellise assured him on multiple occasions that it was a nice place to live, comfortable. But to him, it just wasn't home. It wasn't the place that he had been living in with his best friend for the last four years. And he had to wonder if the rooms within the stone walls were all that warm.

A few people greeted him as he walked, though none of them congratulated him, of which he was grateful. He didn't feel like he should be congratulated, and while he would fulfill his duties to the best of his abilities, he still felt it was misplaced.

Flynn wondered if he would always feel that way.

As he stepped inside the space he and Yuri used to share, he had to pause, as he had done every time he arrived home since the mission gone wrong, eyes searching the hall for signs that Yuri had tracked dirt in, only to find it clean. The air no longer held the scent of him in front of the small kitchenette, working another culinary masterpiece that filled the space with a rich aroma. There were no puddles of water trailing from the bathroom, and Yuri himself no longer sat on the windowsill, staring out into nothing, not seeing, just taking in the activity of the capital. Flynn often wondered if he had been thinking of the lower quarter, since, as Knights, they had moved to a station closer to the castle. He had thought to ask him, but he guessed it was too late now.

He sat on the bed for a while, quietly, not moving just yet. He knew Yuri would have had some comment on his attitude, but he was no longer there to make it. So with a sigh, Flynn stood and began removing his armor, keeping his eyes down and away from what used to be his best friend's bed. Moving to the kitchen, he uncovered what was left of the bread Yuri had made the day he had died. It was stale and chewy, but still tasted good. Slicing what was left, he made himself a small sandwich, one of the few things he had successfully made. And at least this way, he wouldn't be poisoning anyone but himself if he had somehow managed to mess it up. Before eating it, he stared for a while.

It would be the last thing he'd ever eat that was made by the man he had grown up with. Somehow that hurt even worse than the lack of muddy tracks and water drops on the floor. All they said was that Yuri wasn't there before him, and the space they lived in could have been anywhere, so it wasn't as if they had claimed it as their own. They could have made a home anywhere, so long as it had what they needed.

But this… this meant that it was truly the end. It meant that Yuri would never return, would never make another meal, something he was always so passionate about it, even if he never said it. Their meals was what gave them strength, and Yuri had always made sure that that was exactly what was done.

He was gone, and Flynn would not live, eat, fight or stand by his side again.

His chest felt heavy as he lifted the sandwich to his mouth and took a bite.

Stale or not, Yuri's bread still tasted like nothing else ever could.

* * *

**So did that hurt as much to read as it did to write? Review please.**


End file.
